Fiscal Talks Inch Toward Middle

The White House started at $1.6 trillion with its demand for added tax revenue.

House Speaker John Boehner opened with $800 billion in tax revenue.

They differ sharply over how to raise it, the White House with tax increases, the House with tightened tax exemptions.

Yet there are new signs of movement toward a middle ground.

President Barack Obama and Boehner spoke today as they traded offers, according to a Republican congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The president reduced his demand for new tax revenue from $1.6 trillion to $1.4 trillion, said another Republican congressional aide who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the talks. White House officials didn’t respond to requests for comment about the offer.

“We sent the White House a counteroffer that would achieve tax and entitlement reform to solve our looming debt crisis and create more American jobs,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner. “We’re still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the balanced approach he promised the American people.”